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Top Five Natural Remedies for Depression

2013-11-15T16:31:00.001-08:00

Top Five Natural Remedies for Depression

By Mike Bundrant
Nearly 20 million people in America suffer from depression every year.
The conventional treatment for depression that most doctors use is prescription antidepressants; drugs which are effective for many people.
For others, little to no difference is made with conventional treatment. Some researchers even claim that SSRI medication is no more effective than placebo, although this point of view is wide open for debate.
Regardless, for people who are skeptical about taking medication or want to explore other options, the following five natural remedies are worth considering. Of course, you should always consult your doctor. The best class of doctor to consult regarding natural remedies for depression is an integrative psychiatrist.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is said to be one of the most underrated nutrients of all time. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone precursor. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. This is an essential vitamin the body needs to stay healthy.
In 2006 the CDC concluded that one fourth of the population is Vitamin D deficient. Canadian researchers have done 14 studies with 31,424 participants that all prove the strong correlation to low Vitamin D and depression.
In 2006, a study on 80 elderly people showed that those who lacked Vitamin D were 11 times more prone to depression – a number that is shocking, considering most people would never link this vitamin to such a serious disorder.
Safe sun exposure may help raise Vitamin D levels. Being outside with no sunscreen (without allowing yourself to burn) can actually be good for your body. Of course, supplements can also be taken and are proven to help as well.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Researchers have noticed that a sharp rise in depression occurred as people consume less omega 3 fatty acids and more processed foods.
A Columbus University study analyzed 59 patients diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, 18 of which also suffered from Cormobid Anxiety Disorder. Low levels of omega 3 prevailed among the study group, but were most pronounced in those suffering from anxiety and depression. Although is it not on the front line for treating depression, it is a way to attack it from another angle.

Sam-e

Sam-e is a naturally occurring compound found in almost every element of the body. It helps the immune system, maintains cell membranes, and supports chemicals in the brain such as serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine.
Research indicates that Sam-e treatment is more effective than placebo in treating mild to moderate depression. It works more quickly and can be just as effective as prescribed medications without the headaches, sleepiness, sexual dysfunction, and other side effects that occur.
Unfortunately. Sam-e can not be found in food, but it can be prescribed in capsules if you consult with your healthcare provider.

Heavy Metal Detox

Heavy metal toxicity can disturb brain chemistry, which may cause anxiety and depression, and can also weaken your immunity.
Heavy metals, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, mad aluminum interfere with various chemicals in your brain that are associated with depression. Examples of these would be GABA, which contributes to anxiety and a dull intelligence, dopamine, which gives the brain energy and motivation, and acetylcholine, which makes the brain sharp and have good memory.
Ridding the body of the excess heavy metals that harm vital brain chemistry involves balancing mineral antagonists. This dislodges the metals from the tissues into the blood with cheating agents that bind the metals in the blood and prevent them from being re-deposited elsewhere, so the kidneys can properly excrete them.
It is best to work with an experienced health practitioner on a detox plan.

Amino Acid Therapy

Depression and anxiety can occur when there is an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. Amino acids are the building blocks of neurotransmitters.
By giving the body specific therapeutic doses of amino acids, we are giving the body the raw materials it needs to feed the pathway of neurotransmitter production and balance brain chemistry.
For serotonin, 5-HTP or tryptophan can be used. For GABA, doses of GABA can be used. Both of these help soothe and calm the brain, which is helpful with depression, anxiety, and also insomnia.
Amino acid therapy is a method that was discovered in the early 1900′s and used up until the 1980′s when other methods, such as SSRI’s became more popular. Amino acids are often used in place of antidepressants and don’t have the harsh side effects. With a doctor’s supervision, it is proven to be a powerful method in overcoming depression.
Depression is serious. Treating depression should be a matter of personal research and consultation with experts. It is worth learning all you can about how depression works!
The good news is, many healthcare providers offer labs tests that reveal the status of Vitamin D, amino acids, heavy metals, etc.. in your blood. This eliminates the guesswork when it comes to assessing your risk factors.
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The Mantras of the Transcendental Meditation Technique by Dr Keith ...

2013-08-02T17:30:00.001-07:00

These days we hear a lot of talk about the mantras used for meditation. Some people say a random word is best, others recommend the universal sound Aum or Om. But what about the mantras used in the Transcendental Meditation technique? Are they generic or special? Secular or religious? Useless or effective? And where do they come from? These are important questions so let’s find an answer for them.

The Transcendental Meditation technique is an effortless mental procedure whereby an individual experiences increasingly quieter levels of thinking, leading to the experience of total silence; the source of thought, at the deepest level the mind. The technique of Transcendental Meditation has many unique features and one of them is the mantra. As part of personal instruction each student receives a suitable thought/sound or mantra for their meditation practice. These mantras are meaningless sounds which serve as the delicate vehicle on which the mind glides through deeper, more silent levels of the thinking process.

For maximum effectiveness students are encouraged to refrain from speaking or writing down their mantra as this has a damaging and dulling effect on this highly delicate and refined meditation tool. Also, there is a limited pool of mantras that each Transcendental Meditation teacher draws upon to select the appropriate sound for each student. So it’s entirely possible that some students could have the same mantra.

The mantra is selected by the Transcendental Meditation teacher based on the suitability and harmonious effect it will create for each student when properly used. Also, the technique of how to use the mantra is just as crucial as the proper selection of the mantra/sound itself.

It’s important to note that the mantras are used for their sound quality only and have no assigned meaning. These two important aspects, suitability and meaninglessness, allow the mind to be lively but undirected at the same time, so it can sink deep within, ‘transcend’ thought and experience its own silent, inner nature. This is the process called ‘transcending’ which takes place during the Transcendental Meditation technique.

To understand this principle more clearly lets examine the word ‘flower’. A word has two aspects: the sound value and the English meaning. When we say or think the word ‘flower’ we automatically consider the word’s meaning, its qualities and context. We might think of the color, the smell, the quantity, the location and so on and these thoughts about the flower engage and hold the mind on the surface, conscious thinking level and do not allow the mind to fathom its inner nature.

Therefore by intention and by design, the mantra used in the Transcendental Meditation technique is a sound that has no meaning attributed to it either by the teacher or their student. At the same time it should be clear, that if a science, religion or cultural group were to assign a meaning to a mantra, in the past or future, it would still have no bearing on the use of that mantra in the instruction or practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique.

For centuries “google” has been a delightful, nonsensical sound, uttered by babies. More recently however it has been attributed a meaning; the name of a worldwide, Internet search engine. However this new adult meaning has no bearing on a baby’s use of that same sound. Likewise mantras are sounds that are meaningless both to the Transcendental Meditation teacher and the student even though other people, cultures or religions may or may not have assigned a meaning to them.

To further illustrate this point let’s consider the word “flat”. In the USA this sound has a meaning associated with the shape of an object. In England however, “flat” also refers to an apartment. Therefore, each respective culture utilizes sound and assigns meanings for their own localized purpose. Other languages, cultures and people who also use that same sound or word, are completely indifferent to the meaning assigned to that sound/word by other countries or cultures. The same is true with respect to the Transcendental Meditation technique. It utilizes specific mantras/sounds completely irrespective of their intended meaning in other languages or cultural settings.

The Transcendental Meditation technique and the mantras/sounds it utilizes have their origin in the ancient Vedic tradition which predates all religions and cultures including the Hindu religion. The Vedic tradition is a universal body of complete and timeless knowledge encompassing the total field of natural law, or underlying intelligence, that governs the universe. Because the Vedas and the Vedic tradition are ancient and universal, many of its sounds, names and principals are found in many countries, cultures and religions around the world.

The ancient Vedic tradition of India is the oldest continuous tradition of knowledge on earth. In 2003 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed the Vedic tradition (specifically the recitation of the Vedic hymns) a “masterpiece of intangible heritage to humanity”.

The TM technique and its mantras are derived from this same Vedic tradition. Over thousands of years, the technique of Transcendental Meditation contained in the Vedas had been misinterpreted and therefore lost its effectiveness. It was then revived in the 1950’s, to its original and highly effective form, by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who was the custodian and representative of the Vedic tradition in our generation.

So we conclude therefore, that the mantras used in the Transcendental Meditation technique not only have their roots in a timeless tradition of knowledge but that they are also simple and powerful, ancient and unique, meaningful and meaningless, all at the same time!

®Transcendental Meditation and TM are registered trademarks of Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, a non-profit educational organization.

References:
http://adventuresintranscendentalmeditation.blogspot.com/
http://www.tm.org
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=21274&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Transcendental Meditation: The Essential Teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The classic text revised and updated

RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN

Top Five Natural Remedies for Depression

Top Five Natural Remedies for Depression

Vitamin D

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Sam-e

Heavy Metal Detox

Amino Acid Therapy

The Mantras of the Transcendental Meditation Technique by Dr Keith ...

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